In 313 AD, Emperor
Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. A
religion developed on the belief in the coming of the Christ (Messiah
in Judaism), Christianity started as a denomination in Judaism based
on the teachings of Jesus, a young Jewish rabbi in Nazareth.
Rooted in both Jewish and Greek ideas and practices, Christianity was
also influenced by Mithraism in the Roman
Empire, an offshoot of the Persian religion Zoroastrianism.
After the death of Jesus, his disciples spread it to the non-Jewish
populations in the Roman empire. Especially
in the hands of Paul of Tarsus, Christianity became a universal
religion.

1. Religious background: ancient Roman religion

1. Christianity replaced the
Roman religion and became the universal religion of Europe eventually.
Roman religion was very different: it was polytheistic, and initially it was
primitive animism: with deities having names but not personalities, personal histories or
myths. They simply had functions, e.g. Burner, Smasher, Carrier Away (in the
process of cutting trees), cupboard (storage), harvest, ploughing, rust,
granary. Each head of household had his own genius (guardian spirit) to
maintain the familyís responsibilities with the divinities.

2. Greek religion had an indelible impact on Roman religion, giving the spirits
personalities and myths. A lot of the original Roman deities took on Greek
characteristics and functions.

a) Hellenized Roman deities: vesta: Roman goddess of the hearth-fire, center of
the Roman house. Her temple at the Roman forum contained the holy fire, kept
burning by six vesta virgins. Janus: the two-faced door god.

b) Greek and Roman deities
in comparison (examples)

Greek
Roman

Zeus
Jupiter (Jove) (supreme god)

Poseidon
Neptune
(god of the sea)

Hera
Juno
(wife of Jupiter)

Ares
Mars
(god of war)

Athena
Minerva
(goddess of war, wisdom, and crafts)

Apollo
Apollo
(god of light, sun, etc.)

Haphaestus
Vulcan
(god of fire)

Aphrodite
Venus
(goddess of love)

4. Foreign gods in Rome:

a) Introduction of foreign gods, e.g. Isis from Egypt, and Mithras from Persia,
who had become the most important god of Persia in place of Ahura-Mazda.

b) Christianity first came as another foreign religion. Christians were
sometimes persecuted because they refused to worship Jupiter, and because of the
rumor that they ate "human flesh."

2. Development of Judaism after the Babylonian Exile

After
the Babylonian exile, a monotheistic Judaism began to take root among the
Jews in Jerusalem, as well as in the Diaspora.
Jews believed that they needed to keep their part of the covenant with
God, i.e. obey the laws and commandments. On the other hand, the
lack of an independent kingdom and the Hellenistic and Persian cultural
influences that the Jews were under also led to new developments of
Judaism. These changes served as a springboard for the later
development of the denomination of Judaism under Jesus of Nazareth.

a) Developing the idea of
heaven in the Hellenistic world:

Until the
Greeks destroyed the Jewish temple in 167 BC, the Jews had a largely
inchoate idea of the hereafter: a kind of numb darkness, not an end,
exactly, but not existence either. But when the Greeks, with their
many gods and decadent habits, began to threaten the Hebrew way of
existence, Jewish leaders came up with a powerful incentive to stay
faithful and fight back. "Many of those who sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame
and everlasting contempt," says a passage in the Book of Daniel,
written around 165 BC. "Those who are wise shall shine like
the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars forever and ever." This is the first full
blown reference to resurrection in the Bible. Over the centuries,
the mainstream Jewish concept of an afterlife has evolved into something
like a spiritual journey; Jews also believe that at the end of time,
paradise will exist on earth and souls will be reunited with their
bodies.

b)
Ideas of a messiah and
the apocalypse

The long subservience
to foreign powers and the continued failure to "build a new
Jerusalem" and a unified Jewish kingdom led to two new emphases
related to the establishment of heaven on earth.

Messianism:
the Messiah, or "Anointed one" was any king sent by Yahweh
to punish the enemies of the Jews. He would come whenever the
historical situation was too desperate for humans to handle.

The
Apocalypse: an unorthodox movement influenced by Persian religion: the
belief that the historical situation will be set right at a certain
point in history for all time, a.k.a. judgment day.

These two
ideas became popular among the Jews under the Roman Empire.

c) Development
of Biblical interpretation and moral obligations of
individuals.

After the
Babylonian exile, there was a greater emphasis on reading the Bible as
moral history: the unfolding of God's rewards and punishments for the
Jews' obedience or transgression of God's laws. Therefore
historical events took on moral significance, which required
interpretation, hence the rise of the rabbis.

With the
greater emphasis on observing the laws came also an emphasis of the
moral responsibility to observe not just the "letter" of the
law, but also its "spirit"--the rationale of the
law.

3.
Jewish denominations at time of Jesus

There were primarily three Jewish denominations during the time of Jesus
of Nazareth:

Saducees: (the
fundamentalists: a literal adherence to the Bible)

Pharisees: the interpretation
of the Bible as well as adherence to laws.

Essenes: Godís final
judgment and the ritual initiation of baptism to cleanse the initiate of their
sins.

Jesus came from a Pharisee
background, but was also influenced by the
Essenes.

Jesus (6 BC-30 AD) did not preach anything new, but did not bury his
teachings under legalistic reasoning, as many Jewish rabbi did. He was put to
death because of fear that people would take him as the Messiah.

4.
The teachings of Jesus

Against a
background of growing Jewish radicalism against their Roman rulers, Jesus
preached love and tolerance, and rewards from the Kingdom of Heaven, which
required adherence to not just the letter, but also the spirit of the
laws.

[21]
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
[22] But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire.
[23] Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
[24] Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift.
[25] Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in
the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the
judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast
into prison.
[26] Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out
thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
[27] Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou
shalt not commit adultery:
[28] But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart.

[31]
It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give
her a writing of divorcement:
[32] But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his
wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit
adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth
adultery.
[43] Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
[44] But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;
(Gospel of Matthew, chapt.5)

Jesus also
emphasizes that ultimate justice is not carried out on earth, but in the
Kingdom of Heaven.

[1]
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he
was set, his disciples came unto him:
[2] And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
[3] Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
[4] Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
[5] Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
[6] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled.
[7] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
[8] Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
[9] Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.
[10] Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[11] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake.
[12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward
in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.
(Gospel of Matthew, chapt.5)

Jesus of Nazareth established a transcendental
set of criteria in life, focusing on obeying truth and justice as meted out by
a divine authority, which meant obeying the just laws on earth (which accorded
with those by God) and ignoring the injustice on earth.

5. The
Nazarethans after Jesus

After the death
of Jesus by the Roman authorities on the cross on a Friday, it was said he
went to heaven to join his heavenly father on Sunday. His death and
resurrection paralleled the death and resurrection in the story of Osiris
(ancient Egypt) and especially Mithraism, when the Persian god Mithra came
to earth to atone for human sins, was executed, and rose from the
dead. Jesus's desciples continued to spread his message, and in the
process reinterpreted the laws of God from "eye for an eye"
punishment for human sins to love and forgiveness of human sins by God
through the sacrifice of his son Jesus.

In the process,
Jesus's disciples also interpreted Jesus's teachings not only to Jews in
Palestine, but also Jews in the Diaspora who were immersed in Hellenistic
culture. The Hellenistic influence was obvious in the interpretation
of his birth from a virgin mother, or as the child of God and a mortal (in
this case God's presence was the Holy Spirit). On the other hand, they
also interpreted him as a descendant of King David from his father Joseph's
side, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the Jewish Bible that the messiah
would come from the House of David.

Jesus's
emphasis on adherence to the spirit of the Judaic laws was elevated in the
teachings of Paul of Tarsus, a Hellenistic Jew, who did away for the
adherents of Jesus's teachings the need to adhere to Jewish dietary laws and
circumcision. Instead of law, Paul emphasized God's forgiveness
through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and humans' adherence to divine
justice as represented by faith, hope, and love.

[19] Now we know
that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God.
[20] Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
[21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is
manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
[22] Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no
difference:
[23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
[24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus:
[25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance of God;
[26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he
might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
(Paul's letter to the Romans, chapt.3)

[1]
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
[2] And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I
could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
[3] And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing.
[4] Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
[5] Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is
not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
[6] Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
[7] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endureth all things.
[8] Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
[9] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
[10] But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is
in part shall be done away.
[11] When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things.
[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to
face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known.
[13] And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the
greatest of these is charity.

(Paul's first letter
to the Corinthians, chapt.13)

Paul interpreted the
teachings of the Messiah as adherence to faith in God and love for all
fellow humans because of the love of God. He also spread the teachings
to the non-Jewish population of the Greeks and the Romans. By the
second half of the 1st century A.D., the followers of Jesus realized that
they were no longer preaching Judaism, but their emphasis on a transcendence
of this world and the adherence to the transcendental law of love through
faith in God made them at variance from the Saducees and the Pharisees, and
they were more and more made up of non-Jewish populations. They
started to call themselves Christians, after the Greek word Christ. The
break from Judaism was never complete, as the Christians continued to regard
themselves as following the Messiah promised in what now came to be called
the Old Testament, to contrast the Jewish Bible with the writings of Jesus's
disciples and other recorders of his disciples' deeds that made up the New
Testament.

6. Christianity
taking root in the Roman Empire

After the Babylonian exile and the return of Jews to Babylon by the Persian
rulers in the 6th B.C., Jews hoped for a Messiah who would come to
build a new Jerusalem. But their hope was dashed when in 70, and again in 132
AD. under emperors Titus and Hadrian. After the Jews revolted, Romans encouraged
gentiles to settle in Judaea.

Thereafter, Christianity had no alternative but to become a religion
immersed in Greek culture and language. In its Greek form, Christianity first
appealed to those Jews of the Empire who themselves had at least linguistically
become Hellenized.

The destruction of Jerusalem
also strengthened the followers of
Christianity who did not believe a new kingdom would be built on earth but in a
heavenly kingdom.

7. Persecution of Christians

Although the persecutions of the Christians were numerous and severe, they
occurred only at the local level until the middle of the 3rd century A.D. In 249
the Emperor Decius initiated the first Empire-wide persecution. He demanded that
everyone sacrifice to the gods in order to restore divine favor to the teetering
Empire. Those Christians who did not comply suffered imprisonment, and often execution. The last such general persecution was launched by
the Emperor Diocletian in 303.